Daily Hindu Editorials

👉The intent behind some rapes is to render abject the communities to which victims belong👈 A spate of rapes in India, with the accused in most cases being ordinary citizens, or politicians and police officials in some instances, suggests an alarming sickness of the body politic. Public debate in India has been raging around violence against women, with efforts to craft stronger laws to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, punish rape, and provide gender justice ever since the brutal gang rape and murder in Delhi of a physiotherapy student in 2012. But with the ongoing rape of female children, especially though not exclusively those from minority and marginalised communities, this form of endemic gendered violence has entered a new phase. The virulent pathogen that now courses through the political organism of Indian democracy is not familiar patriarchy but genocidal majoritarianism. 👉Rape and ethnocide At least four examples of the organised rape of minority...

👉India’s transition to clean energy could improve the quality of life of women👈 India can increase its GDP by up to 60% by 2025 by enabling more women to participate in its workforce, a 2015 study by the McKinsey Global Institute had stated. However, social and cultural constraints can prevent this from becoming a reality. Many women who work outside home still have primary household and parenting responsibilities that need to be balanced with their work life. Studies estimate that India’s ambitious target of achieving 175 GW of renewable energy (RE) by 2022 could create 3,30,000 jobs in the wind and solar energy sectors alone. Can this rapidly growing industry create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for women? And can these opportunities provide better salaries and health-care benefits, skilling and training opportunities, and enhance the quality of life for women and their families? What can decision-makers — in government and in the private sector — do to support the...

The President’s decision to confer the National Film Awards to only a few was unfortunate Earlier this month, the National Film Awards were caught in a storm of controversy. There has always been a quiet dignity at the ceremony, which stemmed from the fact that the person who gave away the awards was always the first citizen of the country. This time, as many as 55 awardees boycotted the ceremony when it came to be known that the President would give away only 11 of the awards and would also stay at the function for only an hour. The President’s decision defies reason. On what basis were the 11 awardees chosen (though the decision was left to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry)? While the President presented the award for Best Male Playback Singer to K.J. Yesudas, the Best Female Playback Singer, Shashaa Tirupati, was presented the award by two Ministers. It is hard to imagine the President picking and choosing awardees during the Padma awards or the Khel Ratna awards. ...

👉There is growing frustration after more than two decades of intense climate talk👈 This is an important year for making progress on the Paris Agreement (PA), which was discussed at the climate meeting called the Conference of Parties (COP-21) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2015. The Paris Agreement entered into force in November 2016. A two-week-long meeting was recently concluded in Bonn (April 30-May 10) where the operational guidelines for implementing the PA were to be discussed and agreed upon by all parties. What one was looking for was a common, consistent framework of how each country would define and measure its commitments. It would also include proposals for how action taken could be monitored, accounted for and kept transparent while providing some level of flexibility. This meeting was the 48th session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), ...

👉ISRO MAKING GREEN PROPELLANT  👈(ENVIRONMENT) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have reported progress in the development of an environment-friendly propellant to power satellites and spacecraft in a bid to replace the highly polluting rocket fuels. 👉Why? The propellent ISRO currently uses, conventional hydrazine rocket fuel, is a highly toxic and carcinogenic chemical. Hydrazine has dominated the space industry as the choice of propellant for over six decades, despite its environment and health hazards and the challenges faced in its manufacturing, storage, ground handling and transportation, due to its high performance characteristics. But now the research is looking at replacing it with greener propellant blend based on hydroxylammonium nitrate (HAN). 👉Who? Initial tests by a research team at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) have shown promising results in the formulation 👉ITBP TO GET MORE MEN AND MATERIAL👈  (INTERNAL SECURITY) Th...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 2  from editorial  - Hezbollah’s grip — On Lebanon's parliamentary election  💥 grip (noun) – control, power/influence, hold. Hindu Editorial usage :   Hezbollah’s grip — On Lebanon's parliamentary election mounting (adjective) – increasing, growing, intensifying. Hindu Editorial usage :   Results of Lebanon’s May 6 parliamentary election point to the mounting frustration among voters with the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri a host of (noun) – lot, large number, great quantity. Hindu Editorial usage :     Lebanon has had a host of administrative and regional challenges while the government remained largely ineffective in tackling them. breakdown (noun) – failure, collapse, foundering. Hindu Editorial usage :     There were protests in Beirut and elsewhere over a breakdown of waste management; there is an acute power shortage;   shambles (noun) – complete mess, disorder/disarray, diso...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 1  from editorial  - Collective Assertion  💥 assertion (noun) – declaration, statement, contention. Hindu Editorial usage :     Collective assertion — On Justice Joseph’s elevation elevation (noun) – promotion, upgrading, advancement. Hindu Editorial usage :     Collective assertion — On Justice Joseph’s elevation propriety (noun) – morality, correctness, decency. Hindu Editorial usage :     The propriety of the Centre holding back names from the collegium’s list is in question hold back (phrasal verb) – withhold, delay, refuse to disclose/act. Hindu Editorial usage :     The propriety of the Centre holding back names from the collegium’s list is in question collegium system (noun) – The collegium system is the one in which the Chief Justice of India and a forum of four senior most judges of the Supreme Court recommend appointments & transfers of judges. There is no mention of the colleg...